With a unanimous vote, the Marathon City Council approved Marathon’s tentative tax rate and 2022-2023 budget at its first public hearing ahead of the regularly scheduled city council meeting on Sept. 13.
City finance director Jennifer Johnson proposed a tentative millage rate of 2.72 mills – in other words, $2.72 per $1,000 in taxable property value. The rate is 15.04% higher than the rollback rate – which would have raised the same tax revenue as the prior year based on current assessed property values – of 2.3644 mills. The new millage rate will create roughly $9.7 million in revenue for the city’s general fund.
The new $116,909,494 budget includes cost of living increases for staff of 9.6%, insurance benefit increases of 5%, increased public work staff and increased professional services for climate change and other similar studies. Since its last public discussion, Johnson said her staff had to increase the city’s legal budget due to ongoing litigation in the city’s 300 ROGO housing unit case as well as account for the addition of a full-time code officer and increased fire rescue transport pay to meet Florida state requirements.
If the proposed budget is carried out, the city’s unassigned reserves will increase by $1.1 million to a total of $16.7 million, equivalent to 11.86 months of unassigned reserves. The city has an established goal to build 12 months of reserves in the event of a natural disaster like Hurricane Irma. The budget also includes $400,000 set aside for the city’s first time homebuyers’ program as well as a new budget for the Seven Mile Marina project, purchased this year. The infrastructure budget includes appropriations for improvements to bridges, the Seven Mile park, the Quay property and Marathon Community Park.
The public’s final opportunity to provide input on the budget will be at its final hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 5:05 p.m. at Marathon City Hall.
With agreement on the fee schedule set to take effect for boat ramp usage and parking as well as Sombrero Beach parking, the council directed city attorney Steve Williams and public works director Carlos Solis to rework sections of a proposed ordinance defining how Marathon and Key Colony residents would qualify for free use of the facilities.
The fee schedule is expected as follows: $5 per hour for the first two hours to park at Sombrero Beach, followed by $2 per hour thereafter; $25 to launch or retrieve a boat at any of the city’s three public boat ramps; and $20 per day to park a vehicle and trailer in available spaces at these ramps.
All year-round Marathon and KCB residents can qualify their vehicles for free use with documents such as a driver’s license, voter registration card or lease. At the council’s direction, part-time residents who own property in Marathon or KCB will be permitted to register only the property owner’s personal vehicles. The privilege of free use is not transferable to short-term renters or visitors. The exact registration process used is yet to be determined.
In other news:
- Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary superintendent Sarah Fangman delivered an update on the sanctuary’s newly proposed restoration blueprint, highlighting the blueprint’s most consequential elements. Details of the blueprint are available at floridakeys.noaa.gov/blueprint, and a public comment session is scheduled at Marathon High School for Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 6 p.m.
- In honor of beloved Monroe County commissioner “Mangrove Mike” Forster, the council issued a proclamation declaring that Oct. 21, 2022 will be designated as Be Like Mike Day. A week of activities aimed at promoting goodwill and random acts of kindness is planned for the inaugural Be Like Mike week from Oct. 16-22.
- The council directed Williams to draft a change to Marathon’s vacation rental licensing fee schedule. The proposed change will add $100 to all fees in the current per-bedroom schedule – with new licenses currently ranging from $1,000 for a 1-bedroom rental to $1,200 for a 4+-bedroom rental – and will allow the city to charge an additional $100 for each bedroom in a rental above four bedrooms.
- At its first public hearing, the council asked Williams to rework an ordinance intended to provide an enforcement mechanism for the prohibition of alcoholic beverage consumption on city property. They also asked to incorporate a ban on cigarette smoking on city property in the next draft of the ordinance, untouched since its inception in 1999. According to the most recent draft, first-time violators would be asked to leave the property, second-time violators would be issued a trespass warning for no more than a year, and third-time violators would be subject to arrest as a trespasser. The city council would be permitted to waive the provisions of the law for specific events on a case-by-case basis.
